Abstract/Summary

The bourgeoning demand for specialist child and adolescent mental healthcare is placing a considerable strain on an overburdened system in England (Eley, 2022). Adequately and effectively supporting children and young people with mental health difficulties is essential to alleviate pressures on the system, especially on inpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Existing qualitative research has focused on gaining the views of children and young people about being supported by different professionals, in a range of settings, at discrete stages of their mental health recovery journey. However, few studies have explored the lived holistic experiences of young people who have been admitted to psychiatric hospital and their views about the support they receive. This qualitative study sought to listen to young people’s voices and stories about their experiences of being supported in healthcare and education settings, as they journeyed into and out of psychiatric hospital. This research adopted a narrative inquiry approach which was viewed from a constructivist interpretivist philosophical perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight young women aged between sixteen and twenty-seven years. Prior to the interviews, data was collected using experience timelines completed by the participants. All verbal interviews were transcribed by the researcher and analysed using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). By using Self Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) as a theoretical framework, the findings from this study provided further evidence that young people’s basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness and competence are frustrated when their needs are not placed at the heart of their healthcare. The young people’s needs were: to be listened to and be part of decision-making; to receive personalised care and support; and to receive compassionate and respectful care. Additional needs that young people expressed were: to feel a sense of connectedness to their school and have continuity of learning as a well as connectedness with peers. Although the sample size was small, this study highlighted the young people’s desire to have a sense of autonomy in their mental health recovery. By supporting this basic need as well as providing environments in which relatedness and competence can be fostered, healthcare and education professionals can support young people more effectively to encourage positive health and education outcomes.